Dreamscaping (Xion/Open)

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

Destiny islands had nothing shrouded. He looked around him blankly, the expressionless face a mask to his true happiness for the hourly freedom he had once a day. From the main island, he had traveled to a Secret Place... It was typical of him to need to get away from people and the bustling sounds of life, and where else was better than somewhere hidden?

Noctis had been to the Small island only once, and it was too sunny that he felt scorched by the heat. Not being a fan of being soaked by sea water either, he did marvel at the sights of a colourful world and array of wonders he could find there. Nothing could compare to these, back in his gloomy home a spectrum of bronze and sepia was all your eyes could see. He almost suspected his world to be the darkest of them all, in the universe, however impossible it is to tell.

The irony of this was well aware to him. The blue haired boy didn't want to face his troubles twenty four seven and yet was honoured he had such duties entitled to him as they normally are to men. He wasn't used to complete beauty and the surroundings made him feel small. Small enough to find solace on the border of a cave, sitting on the large water polished rocks that framed it. There was a balance here, and no order. It was between light and dark being just outside a cave that had a mystery people couldn't resist and not succumbing to exploring.

"What if..." Speaking to himself, Noctis picked up a pebble beside him from amongst the moss that crept in patterns around. Unbeknownst to him, he could be watched or simply... not alone. The matters at hand clouded his mind and the sound of the crashing waterfall reflected the excess baggage he had within. Turning the little shiny rock, he threw it once to watch it skip two paces across the surface of the river streaming before him. "the Crystal..."

Musing to himself, he picked another one up without realising. His limbs were free to his command for the time being as he was relaxed and carefree, away from the eyes of society. The pressures of being judged, and the complexities of love, life and all the things in between.

The force field created by his summons remained one with the wind, and brushed past his face like a breeze, invisible and swinging the long fringe he had. It was carrying the pebble away and made it hover a foot away from his hand, which had opened to release it now hanging loosely as his elbow rested on his knee.
As the birds sang somewhere in the distance, the prince's hair lightened to reflect little shards of sunlight that burst through the canopy of trees and his eyes became an icy, sterling grey. He let out a sigh as he set alone; solemn and unattended to by friends or family but knowing none of those pleasures.

[xion]

She didn’t know what she was supposed to do. She had found them. Found both Axel and Roxas. She’d spent time with both of them. Her eyes clenched shut as the sun beat down on them, but it didn’t really annoy her as much as it should have. After all, every mission she had been on before her…death…was usually an hour or so before sunset, or an hour or so later. There had never been this much sun wherever she was involved. Still, it didn’t torment her as much as the questioning feeling did. Because, really, what was she to do?

Roxas didn’t remember her when they met. How could this be? They had been best friends. He had been her first friend, first best friend. She had been his second friend, and second best friend. He and Axel were closer than herself and Roxas, but it still cause her pain to know he had forgotten her. Especially since she had died in his arms. Remembering what he had said, she laughed to herself. It was a saddened laugh. A pitiful one. A distraught one. All in all, not her regular life at all. She recalled the many smiles and laughs she had shared with her two best friends.

Xion opened her eyes and sat up. She shook her head so that the sand that had stayed on her hair would fly up. Slowly, she stood up and just stood there staring down at the floor. This beach, this world, it too brought memories flying toward her. This was where she had met Riku, to whom she had yet to encounter once again. She wondered, what would he think when he saw her again? Would he think that his friend, Sora, was in danger again? Speaking of which, what had happened to Sora? She was out of him, which in itself was odd, and so was Roxas. Had he…lost his heart again? Was that why they were here? But no, that didn’t make sense. She wouldn’t be here if he had, just Roxas and his heartless.

She willed her legs to move forward. To take her closer to the shore. Once there, she glanced down at the ocean. The spot would be a good one to just sit and watch as the sun rose or set. Yes, a rather good spot indeed. Then again, it would also be a good spot to hunt for shells like she had in the past. When she had bothered to take them and place them on Roxas’ bedside whenever he was in a coma. She had been worried about him then, just like she was now. “Oh, Roxas. Oh, Axel! What am I supposed to do now? I’ve found you, both, but what now?” she cried to herself.

She hadn’t bothered to check around her to see if anyone was around her. She really didn’t care. Deciding that in case someone was, she pulled her hood half over her head. To where it hid everything but her the bottom part of her face. Hid her sapphire-like eyes. Resolving that she wanted to go sit on the tree, or at least by it, where she held even more memories. Memories that were her own, not Roxas’ or Sora’s. Smiling to herself, she whirled around and felt the salt-filled air smack her face. Xion was used to it, or as used as she was ever going to get to it. Walking forward, she closed her eyes, trying to feel her way up to the path that eventually led to her free. She was relatively amazed with herself once she had taken several steps forward. She hadn’t tripped over anything or ran into anyone. That’d never happened to her, before. She couldn’t quite remember who it was, either, but someone had once questioned her why she was such a whirlwind while fighting, but such a klutz when she wasn’t.

She remembered laughing and shrugging. She honestly didn’t know herself. She was just about to open her eyes once more to check where she was when, suddenly, she bumped into something, and fell backward with a “Oh!” leaving her lips before she landed. Amazingly, her hood had managed to stay on. Shielding her eyes from the sun with her sleeve, she couldn’t help but remark, to herself, how the thing she had run to didn’t feel like a tree or a rock, but rather a human body.

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

The flecked pebble drying in mid air plopped to the ground, missing the river by inches. It glimmered like a coin amidst the blades of grass.

It was sudden, a stumble and a bump, not too hard and not too soft.
His eyes widened in the process as he stayed on the rock he was sitting upon but slid to one side with the force. His boots gripping the earth to sustain his position until he was steady again.

Noctis had turned over his shoulder to watch as a figure approached this clearing. The entire time his back was still facing her, and it didn't tire him out to crane his neck that way until a second ago.
When he did give up on looking at this black haired girl, she had come to him, both uninviting of each other's presence and solid physical connection.

Although he had seen it coming, he hadn't moved a millimeter as he stared at this girl who then hooded herself. She was nearing him then, but he turned away just before she fell, as he thought about how pointless hooding would be considering he had watched her from the beginning to this end; she now lay in a heap against him.
Noctis moved, shifting to make himself comfortable as her soft body had collided and displaced him, but as he looked at her he felt something ethereal. Before he knew it, he took her arm, rustling the texture of her cloak and pulled her with sufficient force so she was upright; the cloak still covered her face and he couldn't make out her identity but he made an effort to lower himself and peak.

The way she had spoken earlier had him believe he was hallucinating. The voice had been light and reminded him somewhat of bells and he knew not why, though she was lamenting at the time as he had to himself, it was world's different the way they had expressed themselves. There was a sorrow that was impure as a trace of hope embedded itself in the tone her speech had been.
Noctis suddenly thought about how silly it might look to speak to oneself and a smile crept to his lips. He had only seconds ago been doing the same, but so much more insensitively. She couldn't see him smiling the rare smile Noctis could give and it was alright not to freeze the muscles on his face just yet.

"And Who are you...?" The disturbance of his peace was probably taken the same way by her. What was he doing here? He was no frequent visitor and perhaps she was...he had trespassed?
Shaking his head slightly, he tilted it to allow his eyes to scan her for any obvious marks of identity then reached out to pinch a section of her hood and draw it back a little so more than a quarter of her face was shown. He had no right, nor was he forward enough to completely unhood her to reveal her eyes, but he had been tempted.

The noises in the background faded in the hollow of his ears.
She seems younger... and meaning no harm. The obvious surprise in her 'Oh' as she fell was enough to tell but looks can be deceiving... He was unable to trust as he would like but there were stepping stones he could take once she answered him. Her remark on how it felt to hit him suddenly, only further amused him but he wouldn't let the smile spread into a grin.
He was no tree ...or rock...""Luckily, it wasn't water you met." So stating, he released her by the arm she had earlier used to shield herself from the sun, and leaned back to spread the pressure of his weight upon his seat, eyeing the closeness they were to the river edge.

[xion]

Xion felt herself be grabbed, but she didn’t say anything. After all, whoever it was was helping her stand up. Still, she pressed her lips tightly together, mentally reprimanding herself for speaking as she fell, and for not paying attention in the first place. If she had, she could have, would have, prevented this collision from ever happening. Still, she could honestly say that this wasn’t the first, nor would it be the last, time she had run into someone or something. She was a natural klutz. She didn’t know why she was, but she was. It was a fact that would never change. Not that she wanted it to. It usually brought her to meet different types of people. It was a blessing within a curse. In a way, the Organization was that way too. It was a blessing because she had met Roxas and Axel through there, but it was a curse because of what she had found out about herself, and now they had treated her.

Still, it would always be a blessing. If she hadn’t been created, she would have never had met Naminé. She would have never had met Riku! Riku. Every time something drifted across her mind that involved him, she just seemed to get sadder. Not that she could actually be sad. Some would describe it as a crush on him, but she wouldn’t. Riku was like a mentor to her. He was her friend. Granted, he wasn’t a best friend like Roxas or Axel, but he was up there. Maybe, in some way, these feelings weren’t her own, but were Sora’s. After all, hadn’t Riku been Sora’s best friend along with Kairi? Before another thought could go on, she was pulled back to reality by the fact someone had just appeared before her. She blinked at him, several times, but she was certain he wasn’t able to see her face.

Xion’s lips pressed harder together and she lightly pulled her arm away from his grasp. When that didn’t work, she yanked it hard enough to force herself to take a step back. Who was this fellow? Had he been here the whole time? Her eyes widened. Had he heard her speaking to herself? If so, how much of it had he heard? She felt her hands start to shake lightly. She didn’t know why, but she was overcome by what felt like fear. But, why? This guy, he couldn’t be a threat, could he? He wasn’t in allegiance with the Organization. He couldn’t be. When she peered at him, he didn’t look to have the face of someone that would work with them. Then again, she hadn’t had that face either, and she had worked with them. No, she didn’t. Not for the purpose of which they believed. She hadn’t worked with them. She had worked for them, and only for the purpose of staying with her friends!

“I am…no one important.” She said finally bring her hand up to her chest and placing it over where her heart was. It was a habit of hers. She was keen on it too. It always reminded her of who she was, and what she could never hope to be. A somebody. She’d always remain a replica, a puppet. “But, if it’s my name you’re interested in, it’s Xion.” When he reached out, almost to pull her hood down, she took another step back. “Please, don’t do that. You don’t know what you’ll see.” She said quietly as she pulled on her hood in order to hide herself once more. After having done so, she glanced at the ground. She didn’t even know who he would see if she took her hood off.

At his next comment, she giggled slightly and brought her hand up to her mouth. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had. I’m such a klutz.” Her giggle transformed into a laugh and she shook her head in order to shake it off. In the process, she managed to unsettle the hood over her head. It fell back, somewhat, enough to show her face, but enough to cover the rest of her head. Her eyes widened, and her hands immediately dashed upwards in order to pull her hood back over her face. She sighed and just finished pushing the hood off of her. What was the point after he had already seen her face? There wasn’t one, unless you counted shielding her eyes from the sun. But, since it didn’t even bother her, she didn’t bother to do that.

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

So she had given him her name...it was so unexpected. Was he to do the same?
A blink of an eye ago, she reserved herself to mystery; her gesture with her hand over where her heart would be, was something most courteous to Noctis, in his opinion. There was no use to pry into her reasons for being here; this Xion was almost shy to him. He was uncertain whether it was shyness or fear, but she didn't want him to see her face no matter what so he drew back his hand like touching it would be playing with fire. It should've been the same quick release when she yanked her arm away from him, but Noctis didn't even realise his grip on her was so focused.

It was his luck that her hood fell back, flattening the tips of her hair to her face as he witnessed remarkable eyes. They were large pools of gems, pure coloured and translucent like precious stones. His own had no such innocence and doe like sweetness but he could see through them that they too had secrets. According to Noctis, he believed she was from another place, surely not one of these islands? It was the way she dressed, it was darker and like his own garments, did promote too much insulation in the heat. If he had to walk and climb the terrain, sweat would have covered him and he was glad he would never have to worry about such things.
"You...blame yourself this much, often?" One eyebrow was slightly raised, then he creased them both, looking confusedly at her. She was so headstrong about not letting him know what she looked like and at the same time weak to herself and klutziness?
The icy eyes became more crystalline and closer to slits than they had once been almond shaped; the squint was not out of visual impairment, but in context of this 'what the hell' type of feeling he had. Noctis could've laughed but no sound came as his lips parted. No one important? Who was she kidding...only more important people or people with things to hide ever really say that...and, it just makes me attempt other methods of finding out just who she is. "I don't suppose you need my name either...it is not of importance."

His voice was low, quiet and the words were meant to tease her and twist what she had said around. If she required it, she would ask and he was never one to speak of himself first unless he needed to make it known for his sake. What would she think now? The aloof figure, casted off his intimidating shell to make the atmosphere less tense than it could be; he was sick of that.

She finally pushed the hood off and he looked at her while lifting a leg up, bent so his elbow was resting on his knee again casually. As she began giggling, he rested his cheek against the knuckles of his hand and studied her, half thinking he made her jittery or something.

Noctis breathed calmly, and then added as if to reassure her of her 'insecurities' as things that don't matter when they were in the presence of eachother, despite being strangers; they paralleled his own, which he chose to hide but she was brave enough to show. "Well, you're not in there...so..." The glance of both eyes flickered toward the rippling water then back at her, in the stead of pointing with his finger to where he indicated. He trailed off as usual, looking up back towards her but past her; he had a problem with staring and keeping eye contact with others and knew she probably would feel more comfortable with that anyway.

[xion]

Xion glanced down at the floor and felt her bangs fall forward, covering some of her face from view. It’s funny, really. If they had been standing where she had been heading, this almost would have reminded her of that time with Riku. When they had been talking about her going back into Sora. Back into her original self. She smiled at the memory. Not because of what was said, because that was somewhat depressing, but because it was one of the few memories she had where she and Riku weren’t fighting. Besides that, he had been the first thing she had seen when she had woken up from her nightmare. And what a nightmare it had been. She couldn’t recall, really, the last time she had had a nightmare since then.

She shook her head outwardly. She needed to stop getting distracted by the littlest of thoughts. She supposed she had gotten that from Roxas. The ability to be able to zone off at random, or even with the smallest thought. She blinked twice then glanced upwards slightly, peering at him through her eyelashes. Xion bit her lip. “You’re not from around here, are you?” She asked finally raising her head up in order to brush her hair back. She hated how her hair just fell to whatever side she tilted her head in. She ran her fingers through her hair. She had asked him that because he, like her, definitely didn’t have clothes from around Destiny Islands. It wasn’t remotely like the people here were. So, it lead her to question. Where was he from?

Xion shrugged and gave him a shy smile. She did blame herself for a lot of things. Often. For example, it was her fault that the Organization trio had split up. If she had been convinced to stay, with her friends, she wouldn’t have died in the first place. She would have been with Roxas and Axel at this very moment instead of with this boy, to whom she still didn’t know his name. She thought of asking him, but decided against it, in the end. If he wanted her to know his name, he would tell her without her having to ask. Besides that, she had technically given him her name, so, if he wanted to return the favor, he would. Going back to his question, the one she hadn’t really answered, she nodded. “Yes. I do. I’m the reason my “family” fell apart. I’m the reason my trio of friends fell apart. It’s all my fault.” She shrugged again. It was partly her fault, really.

Majority of her family, of Organization XIII, had perished at Castle Oblivion. She hadn’t been there, really. She had been born there, but that was it. When she had returned there, to find out about herself, all the other members had already been killed by Sora and his friends. But, in the end, it had been her fault. Once she had died, she had started a reaction. A reaction of other members dying one by one. Xion raised an eyebrow when he had mimicked her. Her eyebrows knitted together the next second. “Really? What a coincidence. Two non-important people, who happen to not be from around here, meet up at this particular spot.” She looked at him and gave him a smile. It wasn’t for long as she soon turned her head swiftly to the side and gave the tree another glance.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Xion agreed nodding her head. Chances were she wouldn’t have run in the water even if he hadn’t been standing there. No, she hadn’t come to this world as often as she would have like to. Her missions were always else where. Usually in Twilight Town. That was the world she knew very well. It was the world that she should have chosen to be at. But, in a way, she was glad she didn’t. Twilight Town, in her mind, was where their friendship had started. Where the two of them, Axel and Roxas, were likely to be. Compared to her other option, she was glad she had come here and had met this man rather than her two best friends. So glad.

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

Well isn't she quick to judge...and think... He was being hypocritical, a moment ago he had done the same but he answered with his head slightly bowed, and his glances flickering more than normal. "No...you aren't either?"
Self explanatory... Noctis blinked as she shyly smiled at him, withdrawn and snowballing his introverted traits to become shy too but unable to smile like her. He pursed his lips and it formed a thin line, which somewhat curled at the edges like a smile would allow but he relaxed after instead of letting that cheery expression dawn fully.

He never shrugged...she did and he watched curiously; Everything fascinated him these days, everything human...
Noctis listened and sighed after all that she had said, gazing at the dissolved reflection of part of his face, in the waters beside him.
Criticisms ruled his childhood, his youth a time of nothingness and pressure. Fault...was why he lived...to be better and one day not have any criticisms befall him. Belittle him... His ambitions brought him to where he was and he couldn't even decide whether this was the life he so desired; endlessly seeking refuge from the complexities trauma gave him.

"You were lamenting over this ...just now?" Looking at her from an angle, he had a cynical face but he meant nothing by what he had asked...nothing more than how he had asked it...people often took his words or his tone the wrong way, and he gave an impression to them that was treated with disdain or interest in the mystery that became him.
"Families...tend to fall apart. Friends...aren't friends if they choose to."
It sounded so sad, like he was a human who understood none of the great things life gave and the miracles worth living for. He was a hollow shell dug out to it's core and sustaining by having been rid of the soft inside. It was a statement, he knew the ways round his words and the retorts that could come whenever he spoke, but he could care less. It is a dog eat dog world... you face things or you don't...and the strong will live, the weak will die...
Noctis couldn't tell if she was strong, or if she was weak but he hoped she was not one to send herself into the spiraling pit of doom; depression and self pity. Those two things you could never get rid of without years and a lot of damage done to your mentality.

This coming from the withdrawn recluse, he was everything put together that made geniuses confused. A starship needed to take him out of this galaxy.
"...Perhaps because unimportant people look for important places...like here...trying to be important."
His left hand stretched out, waved smoothly a little in front of him, telling her to sit if she liked. In the scope of his vision, she was in sunlight and he was sheltered, it was like a yin yang pattern of light and dark.
When she nodded, he did too and concentrated on what better things to put them both more at ease; they weren't going to interact like tense strings on a guitar forever were they? It made the place they chose to be at, coincidentally so ...disappointing. So far, his pride was swallowed, because she was spreading friendliness further than he did. "However, if I may ask...what brings you here?"

[xion]

Xion smiled a wry smile and glanced up at the coulds. No, she wasn't from around here. She had been born in Castle Oblivion. She had only just visited these islands a couple of missions before she quit the organization, and a few times afterwards. Then again, she was from Roxas, who, in turn, came from Sora. Sora was from these islands, wasn't he? So, in a way, wasn't she from these islands herself? Roxas would be too, wouldn't he? "I guess, in a way, I am. But no, I'm really not. It would be...difficult to explain where I'm from." She glanced back down at him, and blinked several times to where the spots the sun had left on her eyes disappeared. "And you? May I ask where you're from? That is, if you want. If you would rather not have me know, I'm okay with that."

What were Roxas and Axel doing at the moment, she wondered. Were they doing the same thing as she was? Trying to make sense of everything that had happened, or had they already succeed in doing so and were now on top of the Clock tower, their usual spot, eating sea salt ice cream? Xion hoped-in her invisible, non-existant heart- that that's what they were doing. It would make them both happy, for one thing, and, for the next, it was it would be like the old times. Before their deaths, and before their separations. "Tell me. Do you have someone, or maybe more than one, who means more to you than anything? If so, do you know what it feels like? To betray them?" she quickly averted her eyes. She was so...confused. Why had she asked him that? A complete stranger?

Her eyes jumped opened wider than how they had been. It had only been for a second as they quickly returned to normal. Still, she felt the look of horror was still on her face. "Oh. You heard that, earlier, did you?" she asked nonchalantly pushing some stray strands of hair behind her ear. "I guess you could say that." she gulped and clenched her eyes shut. She wished...she wished she had checked around to make sure no one was near her to hear her before she started speak. Xion's mouth curved into a sadistic smile. "You're right. Especially if the family dies one by one, like mine did. I still...love...my friends. Regardless of anything that has happened to me in the past, they're still my best friends. I just. I just wanted to save one of them." Roxas. She had did everything she had done because she had wanted to save Roxas. Sora too, but mostly it was about Roxas. Being around her, whether he knew it or not, was slowly killing him. She started by slowly absorbing his memories, then his strength, and, at the rate she had been going, she would have absorbed all of him.

She glanced up at the sky once more. When she lowered her gaze, she tilted her head to the side in confusion. He wasn't completely with her. He seemed odd in his own world, much like she always was. She wondered what he was thinking about. Maybe it was the most important thing in the world, to him, or maybe it was nothing at all. She really had no way of knowing, unless...A small grin formed on her lips as she clasped her hands together behind her back and leaned forward, peeking into his eyes with her wide cerulian ones.

"I'm not looking for anything but answers." she said somewhat stiffly. "I'm not itching to be important, either. That only gives them reason to want to find me." By they, she meant Organization XIII. People like Xemnas and Vexen who would want her back. Xemnas to use her a a puppet once more, Vexen to do more experiments on her. Still, maybe Saix would somehow convince them that she was still dead. After all, no one had seen her alive but a few civilians, who were certainly not alligned with the Organization, Axel, and Roxas. Axel had said that he had quit the Organization for Roxas and herself. Roxas, himself, had already left the Organization by the time their big show down had started. So, as far as she was concerned, she didn't have to worry about stuff like that. "Like I said before, I'm just searching for answeres."

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

"I...see..." Noctis who had been meaning to make her speak, was very nearly disheartened with his form of negotiating questions; it was always his turn to answer something...not that he minded. He was just very much a failure at keeping his cool facade when talking happened, between him and someone like her. There wasn't pressure to speak of things he didn't want to, nor of things he wanted to.
It was so complicated he didn't know where to begin. Where am I from? Has anyone bothered with that question...do I even...know...my true origin... Rather strange a question to himself, Noctis' eyes looked upwards as they would in thought. "Same...wise. I...just have not had that asked to me.'
The prince was always where he had to be, no one didn't know him or had enough time to ask such a thing. Others were often overlooked by him, or perished halfway through knowing him...

"I am from a kingdom in a different world to this one, that's how I would put it. I know not what it is known to the rest of the worlds now as we have not been contact with them since before my birth." There was genuine lack of knowledge there, he felt a ray of light speckle over his face as a bird flew overhead. He looked down then side to side and sighed. "I don't think, there is much to hide...speaking of who I am."

That, was quite uncanny... He spoke ...then she asked...such a deep, dark question. Noctis, was a contrast now, he was not confused with that stuff...in his past and his life. "I don't...they're gone. Those I have left mean much to me, sufficient...but not more than anything...only one is more than anything, and that is an object...bound to my very being. As curious as that sounds... If I followed my heart completely on life, I would betray that, and in turn, myself and those who had once meant more than anything to me...to complicate things more."
Scoffing at that shortly, he shook his head and turned on the boulder he sat on, his back towards the waterfall and river now. Both elbows were on his knees as he leaned forward, crouched and staring ahead.
His sleeves flapped slightly in the wind, and his hand reached to tug his collar down away from covering his mouth.

"Yea, I heard that... without meaning to." Truthfully, a part of him had meant to, just to know who was speaking and why but that wasn't the point was it... it had been largely unintentional.
"Maybe you can't... or you weren't the one who was destined... to save ...your friend. Would you blame yourself if... this friend, told you that you weren't meant to do anything?" It may sound bad to be destined to destroy but if we were told to embrace our fates, then whatever happens...happens...how forced can life be when you're not lost?

"I think...answers are in what we do and what is done. If we search, it is farther away...and... if I may...them?"
The eyes went skeptical, one was opened larger, as though his brow was raised but Noctis was discreet; there were many 'them's...nothing had to be all too suspicious. It was good timing, he claimed, as she had leaned forward with this innocent yet cheeky expression peeking at him. The small grin couldn't be missed and his mouth was at a tiny O, staring at her as she had moved.

[xion]

Xion leaned out, somewhat satisfied, and proceeded to glance down at the sand, then off to the side, thinking. After a couple of seconds, she sat down on the floor with her back resting against the boulder. She closed her eyes and sighed. She figured it might have looked as if she was asleep or something, but she was wide awake. Wide awake and thinking. When he first answered her, she couldn’t help but tilt her head and wonder why that was. Could it be that he didn’t get out much? No, that couldn’t be it. If he were to be someone who didn’t get out much, then he wouldn’t be as courteous as this, would he? More than likely, he would be rude and somewhat selfish. Untrusting and always on nerve. When she opened her eyes and glanced at him again, he didn’t really seem like any of those things, minus the mistrusting. But that, really, was to be expected. She didn’t trust him either. Why would they trust each other? After all, they had barely met. She’d have to judge that later by seeing father down the line whether or not he trusted her.

She winced, lightly, when he mentioned birth, but, other than that, she made no move. She hadn’t known he had known about that other worlds, and she was relieved that he did. Xion was curious as to how he had gotten here. Surely, it had to be by some Gummi ship or whatnot. It couldn’t have been like how she had gotten here. Through the dark corridors she was still able to open. At first, she hadn’t wanted to use them. Using them would have mean that it would have been easier to run into one of the other members. “I guess you could say the same thing about me. The part where I’m from another world. As for knowing about the contacts, I wouldn’t really know all that since my dea- I left.” She covered quickly and averted her eyes. She wasn’t ready to reveal that to him yet. When he continued on, answering her previous question, she smiled in relief. He didn’t seem to find the question all that personal or strange at all. “I’m sorry.” she said simply. She wasn’t sure if she meant it or not, but she hoped that, at any rate, it sounded sincere. To lose everyone you cared about. That had happened to her, but, luckily, when she came back, they had come back as well. “Your heart always leads you to what’s best, doesn’t it?” She asked confused.

The matters of the heart. The one of many things she didn’t understand, and it happened to be the biggest thing she didn’t understand. Considering everything that was happening to her so far, she wouldn’t be able to understand it for quite some time if at all. She wondered, who was it that decided who would get to be the Nobody, and who would get to be the Somebody? Who decided to play some cruel joke on herself, and on all the other replicas? Why couldn’t they, in their own way, be alive with hearts of their own? “Oh, it’s okay, I guess. At least it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.” She shrugged again, but, on the inside, she was still screeching to herself. Sometimes, she was such an idiot. It really was no wonder that she was a replica. If she were this stupid, she didn’t even deserve to be a Nobody. “I’m not one to believe in destiny, not anymore. In the end, I ended up saving my friend. I don’t know what I’m going to do now, but I saved him. I don’t care if Rox-my friend would tell me that, either. Although, I doubt he would. Someone would say my friend has a heart of gold.” ‘At least, they would say that. If he actually had a heart.’

“You may be right.” She said simply leaning her head against the boulder and looking up at him. “But I like the way I’m doing it right now, so I’ll stick with my method.” She smiled faintly and glanced out toward the ocean. “Them. The people who want me back. The people who would, and probably are going to, kill me whenever they feel like it. The people who use me, and the people would gladly trade me to get their original key back.” She glanced down. “You’re noble, aren’t you?”

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

As she closed her eyes and sighed, he skimmed her face; it was of one with youth and no lines that formed of stress. There was much in her history he could tell, that wasn't jovial or bright but it hadn't reflected badly in her being. Noctis didn't think Xion had evil, or a sinful heart but he didn't know why she had been unfortunately troubled to become so mild, like himself. There was innocent blood on his hands, dark secrets he kept and righteous actions he could not obey, he was tainted and it somewhat showed in how he acted and looked but none of that was with her regardless of her demure aura.

Casting his eyes down, he smiled with the sadness of knowing himself and that there was still sanity but he was doing everything according to plan, not entirely his own heart. The original heart could not have been so duty bound, so unswayed and confused. The expression faded as she had winced, but he was too slow in his own light headed reverie to pursue the reason for that. Perhaps some instances were not meant to be... He was witnessing her shift about, repositioning herself, almost distracted by it to bring him back from being gone in the moment.

Everything went through his ears, and he was prepared to remark again when she apologised and his eyes pinned themselves on Xion. "You can feel sorry but you don't ever have to say it... to me."
She was polite and though it sounded more like a warning, what he said indirectly meant she was a friendly acquaintance now. He was seeing stars as the fixation of his gaze made his vision darken and he blinked twice, cutting the overwhelming focus.
"Even with death, I never understood why it mattered for people to say 'sorry' if they can only compare your experience with theirs... and we don't actually want them to, at any rate...it makes less sense when they say a loved one's death should be a celebration of their life because that's how they would want it to be. Apparently that is still something to be sorry about...the hypocrisy of it all."
It spilled like paint out of a bucket, Noctis talked to her without hiding his true self, still shy but unnerved by it. The only thing was that, sentimentally deep things were easier to express than happy and hyper active things; he saw most thing in coffee black and egg white tones, incomplete and outcasted, unable to find people who could relate.

"Someone once asked me, why I said sorry all the time...and I had denied I did...but I knew it had become something habitual as I grew more sensitive to what would be known as ...feelings."
The scattered white tuffs of clouds rolled across the sky, and leaves, flowers and berries fell from trees above them. He caught a leaf that flew past his face, dancing, and held it to his eye in examination. At the same time, the blades of grass tickled the outside of his boots and he noticed an unripe berry hit him and rolled off.
"My heart, I like to say it has four parts instead of just simply saying I don't have one, doesn't lead me anywhere...it's probably the immaculate extent of pain that it may bear which helps me know what's best. It's very misguiding even then."

Noctis let out a very faint, humourless laugh and twirled the little leaf. Flicking it away, having lost interest in it, he turned back to Xion slowly resting his cheek against the knuckles of his hand again.
"Your friend, you start his name but never finish...must be lucky with that heart of gold. If you're willing to save him as you did, don't you think you have a heart of gold?"
What was it with matters of the heart, it was only a life source, vulnerable and costing a lot of attention from the mind...the little emotion switches in his head that controlled him and kept his feelings in check could do better without a solid, human, heart.

"Never be used, you'd never be who you are. " She probably knew that, but he said his mind anyway. It was as though the opportunity to voice out freely was heaven sent but he still remained reserved.
"Are these...people, powerful and important? And I must ask, you hold a key?"
It was after she asked, he inhaled and felt a cold sensation shower him. These tremors were not because he wanted to remain unknown, he had said there was nothing to hide regarding his identity earlier...it was just both flatteringly observant and uncalled for. He liked to predict the stepping stones of a conversation but he missed this one altogether.

Noctis' cheek left it's resting position as his eyes widened as he looked down at the top of her head while she gazed outwards. After what he feared would be forever, he exhaled and his cheek came back in contact with his hand.
"Noble? That is quite a ...compliment." His hair became a deep maroon and he quit toying with the question; he was never the playful type and he tried to be as articulate as possible. "I am known as the last heir of the Caelum dynasty...and linked with a legend of Crystals that hold great power. It was all predetermined, that is why my name bears relation to it, I believe."
Contemplating what in this summary he needed to elaborate on, he paused and waited for her to take all he'd explained in. There was much detail in between she could ask but that would presumably come when she saw fit.
"Throughout the years, we've been protecting one, which I now command as somehow it's strength is fused with me. With regards to the 'dynasty' thing...it's almost a monarchy run with a twist. In the darkness of my world, it's more of a politics, connections and whoever holds power rules all issue. I'm merely what ground I can hold and maintain, unchallenged...what more there was to inherit, I have yet to find out."

ooc: tried resizing it so it's not such a pain to scroll but it became a mess of tiny words lol[/color]

[xion]

She needed to get a hold of herself. She needed to stop thinking about the past. The past that shouldn’t even matter to her anymore. She needed to focus on the future. What was she going to do now? Would she return to the Organization if Roxas and Axel did, even though she hated it with a passion, herself? Or would she continue to work alone as she had since she had come back? If she were asked right now, she’d grit her teeth and say she’d have to go with them. If she had found them, at once, she couldn’t bear to leave them again. No. If she ever got the two of them together, she was going to make sure they stayed together. No more abandoning one another. They had to stick together. For her sake. If any of the other members, excluding maybe Demyx, caught her, they’d surely turn her in and Saix would kill her.

She shook her head, outwardly, and glanced again at the ocean. It always calmed her down. The ocean. She smiled to herself, faintly, as she remembered when she was collecting shells to put by Roxas’s bed when he was unconscious. At the time, she didn’t know it was because of her, but now she did. Now, she wasn’t that ignorant. Maybe she would stop looking for them. Them because Axel cared more about Roxas than he did about her. That was to be expected, as well. He had known Roxas longer, and wouldn’t even have paid her a second thought if it weren’t for Roxas. For forcing them to be together in order to be with him. That Roxas. He was a good mediator, unlike herself. She couldn’t even keep Axel around once Roxas was out of the picture, and Axel had hurt her. Something Roxas had tried to put a stop to.

She couldn’t stop her mouth from pushing itself out and into a small pout. She was still angry at Axel for doing that to her, but, at least, now she didn’t want to hurt him anymore. He had apologizes, that was true, but she was still wary of him. He might end up doing it all over again. Xion blinked and snapped back into reality when he started to talk. She hated, once again, that she zoned out as much as she did. “Is that so?” She asked. She narrowed her eyes in confusion, but relaxed them when he went on to explain. “Death isn’t a celebration.” She said flatly glaring out at the sea now. She didn’t like to talk about death. She didn’t like it, and she didn’t fear it. Not like one should. She just despised it. Frankly because she had died, before. Death was supposed to be for forever, but, in her case and in the case of many of the other Organization members, that didn’t happen, did it? It was supposed to. She wasn’t supposed to worry about anything anymore. She was supposed to be…she didn’t know where. In the darkness. Not here, not on Destiny Islands. Not on Sora’s home planet. But, she didn’t want to think about that, now. Not when he had just spoke as freely as he did. Not when he hadn’t talked like that before. It made her curious. He had spoken clearly. He hadn’t done that before now. “I would know.” she muttered darkly.

“Feelings.” She repeated to herself before glancing up at him, at his eyes. Why was it that those words haunted her so much? Heart and feelings. Things she didn’t have. She stared at him for a couple of seconds before tearing her eyes away and placing her hand on the spot where her heart was. She kept it there for a period of ten seconds before sighing and dropping her hand down. She still felt no heartbeat, and she was sure she never would. “This is going to sound awkward, but, what do feelings…what are they like?” She made sure not to look at him, to keep her eyes averted to that spot where she had once sat. “If the heart is misguiding, why do I even want one?” her eyes narrowed in confusion. If it only did that, what was the big deal? Why did it make them someone? Weren’t they better off, then, without a heart? She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head once more. She sounded like her, like Larxene. With her negativity. With her talk of not needing one.

She raised her eyebrow and gave him a look when he laughed. That was another thing. She hadn’t heard him laugh either. “His name is Roxas.” She said simply. She smiled to herself, then at him. “His eyes are like…are like mine, sorta. This shade of blue and like this.” She’d gotten it from him, after all. From him and from Sora. Her eyes. At one point, last time, she would have said that they had copied her, because she still would have had her sense of humor, but not anymore. Not after what had happened. “Would say.” She said quietly. So quietly she could barely tell that she had said so herself. “No, I don’t think that.” She whispered firmly. She didn’t believe that at all. If she had a heart, it wouldn’t be one of gold. It’d be cold and it’d be full of darkness. She knew that much. But he continued, so she didn’t elaborate. “I am who I am because I’ve been used. I’ve been used, and I will be again.” She said softly closing her eyes and leaning her head against the boulder once more. She didn’t like that thought, but she knew she’d never escape it. “These people are powerful, but they aren’t important. I don’t think we can be important. They have strength you wouldn’t believe. They each command others, and one of them is the reason I am here right now. I don’t like that he is, but he is. And I don’t hold the key. The key is another person, himself. I believe you’ve heard me talk about him before. Roxas?” She frowned.

She stared at the ocean. Watching as it came towards them, only to be stopped by the sand and retreat backwards. Over and over again. Each time brining some mystery with it, and taking some of the mystery away. She smiled, wryly, when he tried to avoid the question. “I can tell by your clothing. A…commoner wouldn’t wear things like that.” She glanced at him and winked. Xion was quite surprised with herself. Usually, she was horrible at recon, and was usually glad back then when she was always assigned to defeat heartless instead of map everything out. “Speaking of names, I don’t know yours yet. Care to tell me?” She tilted her head to the side. “But I knew it. That you were noble. It’s kind of all around you. It is hard to tell, so good job. It’s just that I’ve been trained to notice this kind of stuff.” She sighed. “This Crystals. What kind of powers does it have?” She asked curiously.

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

"Yes...I'm not sure." The prince was insecure about his decisions many a time, but he still made them in the end and his judgment was very much half hearted in all the confusion. Death was one, but he didn't have to face it with sorrow anymore did he?
Xion spoke less than he would've thought when they were on the subject of the end of life and he knew he had picked a touchy area to speak about. Common sense told him not to pry and not to probe at his own interests for his knowledgeable gain. Shut up, he agreed with her though he had much to comment on as usual.

As she placed her hand upon her chest, he pondered what she did but asked nothing of it since she stared at him. Some deep misery crossed the stare; the seconds she held it dug at him and left an impression he wasn't going to forget. What he was hearing next was even harder to push out of his mind so he didn't try to. If he was at a loss for words, now was not the right time, and he mentally kicked himself to get the brain in gear to reflect on what feelings felt like.
"I think feelings are often taken for granted ...and desired by those who seek it to give them some kind of hope in life. I had them touch me deeply before, such feelings... but they can be cast away easily if you have a strong mind. There are different types and make you do different things, in some ways feelings help you find paths?"
The hint of uncertainty arrived, but he proceeded to explain further seeing as he wasn't satisfied with what he'd said. It would be bothersome to retract it all anyway..."Yet, they trigger things that lead people to their downfall...and bring about reactions like ...tantrums, anger, cries that they don't want, too. I see it as a weakness despite what good it may bring."

A finger reached under his eye and he scratched away a strand of his hair that poked him. Then, the hand just fell on his lap with a quiet pat and Noctis' shoulders sagged a little.
"It's better not having them...they complicate you. Strengthen and break you... I think, by your remorse for death and compassion for your friend, you have something relative to feelings though... I try to keep them at bay personally, until they can be contained so I don't physically express any of it. Numbness in me wonders if I truly feel what conventional feelings are, at all."

He had done much talking. More than he normally did and Noctis didn't want to bore her with the rambles.
"That's why I don't say my heart is a heart or at least, it's just a lump in me that sustains my body. The four parts to it, is just one that is original and unscathed, hard like diamonds so that I can be undeterred. Another empty like a blackhole that takes everything I can see and think about in to provide feelings that don't come out ...right... and... the last two parts, one of dust and ash, flimsy and blown wherever I'm led to, burnt out as my complexities exhaust me. The final other, is just of flesh, soft and vulnerable in the sense that I...erm...tend to shy away from things and am...quite misunderstood."
Noctis almost stuttered but that would be very unbecoming of him; the truth was the truth and even if he didn't admit it to everyone, all this stuff about himself, she was probably going to see through him anyway. It just was going to happen...
He finished, very self conscious, and wondering how lame it all was that he'd said; what was she to think of him beyond what he looked like and appeared to have been. Tilting his head back, his neck curved and his face bathed in raw sunlight to avoid her eye contact, he was only going to look back down when he was ready to.

"Yes I have...Roxas...is the name of your friend is it not? Now that you've said it fully, but your friend is a key? It sounds like...Keys can wield keys too...or hold them so to speak?"
The waves made music, washed ashore reaching to them and then backing off, diminishing the volume. His lips pressed thin, making a wave on his face as he thought. Commoners wear what they like do they not? For all he knew, she could be someone of status too...
"This...hardly regal and royal." Ready to face her again, he pinched at a section of the fabric at his lap, it reflected like shark skin in black; he was head to toe in black every single day. "You have been trained to do much haven't you? Is there a reason why you wear such robes?"
Noctis watched her, twinkling and charmed by her flat, blunt way of telling him things; it was quite funny but not in an offensive way. "Hm...the Crystals have different ways of channeling their power I assume, but this one I keep allows me to materialise weapons at will...it sort of makes a good pair with how I travel." Oddly, he never said how he traveled, but he was more into demonstrating to people with actions and maybe it would work well with her. "And...I'm Noctis Lucis Caelum...it means, Light of the Night sky...but just noct is fine."

Busying himself before he could feel slightly embarassed, telling her about the pretty meaning and because he was 'doing a good job', an idea popped.
He stood up and walked around the massive boulder he was sitting on and found a relatively large rock, slightly smaller than an Ostrich egg.
Taking one last look at Xion, he reached down and cradled it with both hands, securing the weight in his hold and then approached her, hoping she was not afraid and too confused. "Take it... and..." Noctis sighed and turned away, the eyes blushing crimson as his once maroon hair flashed blue-grey silver like navy ink and graphite had coloured it. He then glanced at her quickly, waiting for her to open her hands so he could drop the rock into her grasp; it wasn't too heavy for her he guessed. "Throw it at me to hit me, after I back away...then watch what happens."

[xion]

He knew better keep pressing on about the subject, and she was glad about it. She didn’t like talking about death. Not since everyone had died. Well, almost everyone. Thirteen out of fourteen had perished and had returned to the darkness. You’d add one to each if you counted the Riku replica. While some part of her was glad everyone else had died, some part of her didn’t like it. She was confused, too. Why was wanting to get a heart so bad? Why was it punishable by death? Sora, wasn’t he supposed to be the hero? He just didn’t understand where they were coming from because he had a heart to call his own. A heart he had lost, but had gotten back thanks to the princess of heart. That wasn’t fair. None of it was fair, but common sense told her to keep her mouth shut. That none of it, in the long shot, mattered.

She felt her lips curve into a smirk. They were taken by granted, those feelings. Even the mere memory of them were taken for granted. Although the members of the Organization didn’t have feelings, didn’t majority of them have the memory of it and, in turn, used it to pretend to have those feelings? Axel did, as he was usually pretending to be amused and things in that sort. Larxene used her memories to be cold and sadistic. But did they really want it to give them hope? Of that, she wasn’t too sure. She wanted a heart, and a soul, so that she would be able to truly express herself as she should be able to. “Yes. I agree with you there. People do take them for granted, and they will continue to do so until they realize not everyone can feel like them, and, even then, the ability to feel things will still be abused. And, about the hope thing, I’m not sure that’s entirely correct. I really wouldn’t know what it’s life to feel hope in the first place, so I can’t really clarify on it.” She paused. “But those with the strong minds that want to cast it off to the side, those are the true fools. The ones who try not to have emotions, the ones who refuse to register that they do have them, those are the idiots that don’t deserve to have them in the first place. Those are the ones who need to learn of all those…empty shells with the souls still attached that can’t feel. They are the ones that deserve to lose their hearts…” She wanted to take it back, in the end. She didn’t mean to just ramble on the way she did. Still, what he said, at the end, reminded her of something Saix would say. That they, ultimately, got in the way. “That may be so, but they’re still what matters most. It doesn’t matter if you think them a weakness, or a strength.”

Xion brought her knees up higher. She did this so that she could rest her arms on them, and her head on her arms. She glanced down at her coat. With all it’s zippers and pockets. The coat that held so much mystery, and disguised them from everyone else. The coat that distinguished them. “It’s really not. It’s…horrible living life-if you could call what I’m doing, what we’re doing, living- without being able to feel. And it’s not remorse, not really.” She paused to lift her head up. “Mostly, it’s anger, or some remembrance of it. And as for the compassion, you may be right about that. But I don’t have feelings, not according to them. In the end, I think they’re just the feelings I remember from having his memories.” She sighed and shifted her head so she could glance at him. “You shouldn’t do that, either. Keep them at bay. You may not like what they always tell you, but you should be glad you have them in the first place. Be glad that you were born with them…”

She stayed quiet, taking in his definition and wondering. If he felt so deeply about this, about how his heart was relatively useless to him, maybe the Organization had gone about this all wrong. Maybe they were lucky not to have hearts and emotions to tie them back. Maybe they should stop trying to exist simply to get their hearts back. They should just forget about it all and go on trying to be as normal as they could. At least they had the memory of having emotions, and now they wouldn’t really die unless they were killed. But, even as she thought of this, something inside her was arguing profoundly against it. As much as she didn’t want to, something inside of her gave in, and she felt as though she had to listen to herself. She had to argue that having a heart was one of the most important things, if not the most important thing, she could ever do. “You’re wrong, you know. At least, something is telling me you’re wrong, and that you shouldn’t think like that at all. The heart is a complicated thing, or so I’ve heard. It may feel like that to you, but there are more parts than that, and those parts, though you don’t know it, are the important parts.”

A small smile danced it’s way onto her lips as she lowered her head back down. Out of everyone she seemed to ask that question, and she could continue to ask everyone she encountered some form of that question, seemed to have a different opinion. Most of them were positive, and she’d never heard it from this point of view. His was somewhat negative and full of secrets, but it was her favorite. He gave more detail than most of the others did. “Yes. It is. Roxas. Number XIII. The Key of Destiny.” She recited with a tone of bitterness creeping into her voice. Roxas had gotten a number, as had, supposedly, she. He’d also gotten a title, something she hadn’t gotten. She knew why that was, too. It was because she was just a Replica, not even a Nobody. So, naturally, she could masquerade as a Nobody, but she‘d never, truly, get to be one. “According to the Superior, Roxas is the key to getting our hearts back because of what he wields. I wield the same thing, or something similar to him, but I’m not as an important key because of the way I came to be.”

She lifted her head, and one of her arms, to point at what he was wearing. “That maybe be so, but it’s not really what everyone else, unless they’re in mourning, would wear. In a way, it’s too formal.” She smiled at him, to show him she was teasing him. It had been a while since she had last teased someone, and it felt kind of fun to do so again. Perhaps she’d lighten up a bit and relearn to be like her old self, although her old self worried, or remembered how it was like to worry, too much. “Yes, I have. I can’t say, though, that scoping things is my favorite. I hate it, actually.” She ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back from her face where it always seemed to want to stay. “Hmm? This coat?” She glanced down at it and laughed. “No. I wear it because it keeps me warm. It disguises me from people I don’t want to see me. In all honestly, I probably shouldn’t be wearing it anymore.”

She raised her eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. He could really do that, though? Materialize weapons at will? That must have come in handy whenever he was fighting against someone, or something as heartless were starting to appear up and around again. And when he brought up traveling, part of her wanted to ask him how he did that. How he traveled around considering he really couldn’t open a dark portal like she could. “If you don’t find it too rude, or too much of a hassle to answer, how did you get here? Obviously, it couldn’t have been like how I arrived.” She frowned slightly. It very well could have been like how she arrived, she honestly couldn’t say for sure. “Noctis.” She repeated with a small smile on her face. She nodded her head. When he stood up, she felt her eyes narrow slightly, curious as to what he was doing. When he picked up a rock, part of her wanted to stand up and get into a battle stance, and the other half wanted to see what he was doing first. Yet, she still jumped up, landing on her feet, and gave him a wary look. When he walked back towards her, holding the rock in her hands, her eyes narrowed more as she extended her hands to catch the rock. And, when he gave her the instructions for what she was supposed to do with it, her jaw dropped slightly. “No. I won’t throw it at you. It’s not…it’s not right.”

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

"You could say, we want what we can't have and when we have it, we realise we don't really want it. Or rather, it was just a want we let ourselves get carried away with."
The result of feelings. How it led to this debate was already something to think about; they had a great parallel sense of wonder. She wanted a heart and feelings as she...felt what was right and wrong with his opinions. He didn't want feelings easily as they got in his way, or maybe they only did because he let himself be in a situation where feelings mattered less than rationale.
Noctis was relieved to find agreement but also initially stumped that she reconned everything he had said with her own, strong opinions. All this while he had not thought she had no heart, no ability to feel but maybe it really maddened her that she didn't have those things. He had spoken as though she were equal to him, having been through the traumas of feelings and a heart but she hadn't. It wasn't too important whether she had, sometimes answers came without searching and perhaps she did know better, he had to let himself stay open to the notion in case he ever lived narrow minded; As a joke in ignorance.

"Vice versa, the abilities to feel are abused and they abuse the heart in return. Room to expand on that, you're correct, it's difficult to clarify on the hopes. I did mean that hope as in feelings drove us to live or die, to do things in ways we did; it's like a set of instructions you can't help but obey if you didn't stay above it. Not the same hope you would have praying for something to be, when it just wasn't going to go the way you wanted. The type where you act out feelings so you feel like that's how living is, how feelings are; the 'hope' that you're alive without having to bleed."
Breathing, he sensed a choking of numerous twisted ideas coming to him, none in order of anything and all trying to exit at once without being processed. It was as though he had to slow himself down before stuff he explained began to contradict one another so much that it deemed him senseless.
"I would never have considered myself a fool if not for feelings, I'd rather that than be a slave to them...Perhaps it is just how my heart and feelings for feelings were shaped, that they collide with your ideals. Many people would say the same so I never bothered to tell them, I don't agree with myself completely either. It would just make conversations a train wreck...besides myself isn't priority on most days so it would seem like self pity to seek someone's understanding as the meaning to be who I am." Too much too soon, and this is what became; a youth that never was. It was probably reflex and defensive mechanisms that ruled him but as he was accepting of many views, he was always quite bland in expression. If these were the troubles of nobility, a commoner had better luck but everything was per chance.

"It sounds... just very fantastical your world. Organised and magical; it seems to incorporate everything the future has designed for a race. If you have keys to unlock what has been locked away, and people who are utilised without feelings...all of it. Leads me to wonder if robots may compete at all...not saying that you are. Seeing as you still have a freedom I will never be able claim."
Something in her gem eyes wavered his self orientated feelings. It made him script out possibilities, and a dream like curiousity. Noctis could imagine how it'd be, a world run like that but does it take away troubles altogether? No, he hadn't found a solution not even if he could transform his council into a robotic group; erased of human kind's innate cunning.

"If you like his memories, then maybe you like feelings..." Averting his eyes, he knew she was looking at him, glancing was enough but her targeting exactly what he was bothered by multiplied the trace of shyness. What was he if he didn't keep feelings at bay, he had no idea how to live without suppression now that it had grown on him. Ripping him in two couldn't split the attachment he had with the switches in his brain; they were networked like a circut, helping him stay cool...flicking off at will, bringing him far away from outbursts...and even further away from new heartbreak. "I...didn't want to have them in the first place but I did appreciate them...I changed my mind once I found out they weren't going to foretell good news to me...almost never, in fact." His face was solemn, forlorn but not depressed. There was great fluctuation in how he felt anyway; neither the sea waves nor the tides could match.

Being wrong by her books, was alright. Being wrong by others, not so much...
She had fair reasons, the others mainly just rebuked him or did something to put him down from expressing himself. Maybe it was that she had no heart or feelings, he couldn't take what she honestly regurgitated, to heart negatively and be frustrated.
The listener was no longer only listening, he was sharing more than he ever dreamed of. A nightmare in the beginning was all it took to wake up and shake off the cold sweat he got from interacting with people and take the leap of faith to tell her things. "The way I see it, however you came to be...makes you a part of Roxas? If he is the key of destiny, then you're just the part of his destiny that fulfils everyone elses. It is...a gift to be needed for something that could make history." She saved him right? Is she not a hero in her own right...

His eyes rounded with an innocence that he hadn't explored in years; she teased him. The line of his lips had parted again, it seemed like an unintentional pout a child's face showed. Having nothing to say to that, the corners of his mouth curved as though he smiled and he did, very discreetly, taking a few steps away from her as she'd taken the rock from him. There was one hanging question in spite of his silence, why didn't she want to wear her coat anymore? All the other reasons were logical, so this one put him up in the clouds.

They were now face to face, even distance to fight but he felt a tickle of laughter as her jaw dropped slightly. "How am I to show you something then...?" His eyes rotated to the corner as he glanced up then down to the ground vertically, ending up looking at her face. "You worry too much..." Flatly, he stated, thinking about how she always asked if it was too rude...whatever... for him to tell her things. Then again, how was she to know he was waiting for someone to tell things too three quarters of his life so far and he relented to a different approach.

A strange treble, sounding like the pronounciation of her name, lasted roughly a second and he vanished. Dead, brown leaves conjured up from amidst the moist grass, strewing everywhere in a small circle. It happened again when he reappeared, closer to her but not beside, giving her ample perimetre to still throw the rock at him. It was the startle he intended for her, that he guessed could trigger her to throw it at him...and if she didn't do that automatically, more coaxing was needed. His hair swayed where they were layered and he stared with the crimson in his eye, continuing to instruct her now."That's how I got here..."